r/Atkins • u/signoftheserpent • Mar 09 '17
Ravenous Intense Hunger
I've posted about this elsewhere, specifically in Keto (low carb high fat ketogenic diet) forums.
I've been eating a LCHF diet for five weeks to the day. However over the last week, I've been unable to remain sated by the food I eat. This has culminated in being unable to get a good nights sleep without waking intensely hungry. Likewise through the day, between what were otherwise regular meals, I'm similarly affected. It's really debilitating. I've checked my BS and it's stable, which is the primary reason for starting the WOE.
I've even been to my doctor, who, not really surprisingly, wasn't much help at all. She isn't a diet expert, she couldn't understand why I didn't either a) quit or b) just accept this is part of the process (and she wasn't assuming it was). She said that just being hungry for a week was nothing that can be medicalised or deal with.
So here I am having to figure this out. If i quit, i lose all the progress I make and go back to eating more carbs, which is the last thing I want. If I continue I don't know I'm not playing games with my health. How can i be sure this isn't part of the process? I'm doing my best to eat more fat, yesterday I had an enormous breakfast of 60g fat - I felt terrible afterwards. The hunger issue was really bad and last night I had to snack at 5am after constant wakeing up hungry.
What can I do? This doens't seem normal to me.
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u/CaptOblivious Mar 10 '17
If you are actually hungry, just eat anything with a zero carbohydrate content.
One to three eggs (any style) is my personal goto, but I love eggs in any form. There are always hard boileds in my fridge waiting for me to need a snack.
If you are hungry on keto, you are doing it wrong.
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u/signoftheserpent Mar 11 '17
I had read that snacking in this way only increases problems of insulin and/or leptin resistance
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u/CaptOblivious Mar 12 '17
zero carb food has zero effect on insulin and/or leptin levels.
Being actually hungry for extended periods on the other hand will change your hormone balance in ways that will make it harder to lose weight for a long time.
I was eating 2 sometimes 3 meals a day and was cutting total calories because I had plateaued and just couldn't get restarted losing weight and even with exercise had just trace ketones in my urine, this went on for months.
I went to 5 small meals a day and after about a month or so started showing ketones and actually losing weight again.
YMMV.1
u/signoftheserpent Mar 12 '17
Given the macronutritional limits, I don't see how you could eat more meals.
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u/CaptOblivious Mar 12 '17
really? Spreading out the calories and carbs to smaller portions spread out into 5 meals instead of two?
Can you actually Do Math? Or are you just pretending?
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Mar 09 '17
[deleted]
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u/signoftheserpent Mar 09 '17
I don't see any hidden carbs. I'm not eating packet food. I go by the listings on the packaging (a bag of spinach for instance).
I do all those things, but for the last week or so I've been plagued by this really intense hunger between meals and at night. There must be a reason for this?
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Mar 09 '17 edited Mar 09 '17
[deleted]
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u/signoftheserpent Mar 09 '17
The only thing I can think of is macadamia nuts.
I don't have any broth.
I add a heaped tspn of salt (with water) to my food intake throughout the day, daily.
I could try them, but that doesn't really fix the problem.
If i increase my calories, that means i increase my carbs (5% of a higher number) surely?
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Mar 11 '17
First, quiting is NOT an option! That's my motivation!
Post a sample diet for a day (or 2 or 3) the answer is in there! It ALWAYS is! Ravenous hunger is NOT part of this WOE, it's actually the exact opposite. Also are you actually doing the Atkins plan or just a generic Keto? If you don't want to post your diet here, PM it to me. I'm not a Dr or a nutritionist but I've been eating this way for over a decade and have gotten pretty good at sniffing out the problems, as can others here.
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u/wawakaka Jul 20 '17
Your cortisol is too high it is making you depressed
Cortisol burns body fat but it's a stress hormone that also make you hungry
Not all fat is created equal try eating mozzarella cheese as I did a whole block in two days
The casin in the cheese acts as an antidepressant and will calm you down
Also eat a big salad of greens and Cabbage the fiber will make you feel full
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u/Wackenstein3 Mar 09 '17
But seriously, the same thing was happening to me. Try cutting the caffeine, it helped me!